![\"Switzerland's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782811109_906_SUT-L-zeigler-0629-01.jpg\")
Switzerland\u2019s Granit Xhaka, center, and Cedric Itten, right, battle for the ball during a June 3 training session at the San Diego Jewish Academy. (Peter Klaunzer\/Keystone via AP)<\/p>\nWhen the San Diego Jewish Academy in Carmel Valley commissioned a local construction firm in 2006 to build an outdoor sports complex on a parcel of land carved into a picturesque hillside, it was called the \u201cBallfield for Kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing about it becoming a coveted training facility for some of the planet\u2019s top soccer teams.<\/p>\n
Switzerland\u2019s national team is the latest guest at the school with 500 students from pre-K through 12th grade, using the 56-acre campus as its World Cup training base for the past month.<\/p>\n
An unused softball diamond was sodded over to extend the natural grass playing surface, a 4,500-square-foot tented outdoor gym was erected on the baseball diamond at the opposite end, and a school meeting room was converted to a media center. The Swiss are staying just down the street at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar. They played a tune-up match against Australia just down the freeway at Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worked out. After a shaky 1-1 tie against Qatar in the opener, the Swiss recorded a pair of wins, including 2-1 against co-host Canada, to win Group B and advance to a very winnable round of 32 match against Algeria in Vancouver on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very happy about all the work done in advance before the World Cup,\u201d said Damien Mollard, the team operations manager for Switzerland\u2019s soccer federation. \u201cFrom the beginning, we had a very good relationship and good exchanges with the San Diego Jewish Academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, we have everything that we asked for and we needed. We are very happy. All the players are also happy about the facilities, about the equipment, about the gym, and the pitch is in very good condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Switzerland\u2019s Granit Xhaka, center, and Cedric Itten, right, battle for the ball during a June 3 training session at the San Diego Jewish Academy. (Peter Klaunzer\/Keystone via AP)<\/p>\n
Ah yes, the pitch.<\/p>\n
It is quietly regarded among the best in the county, maybe the country.<\/p>\n
A former San Diego Jewish Academy girls soccer coach worked in operations for major international soccer events, and in 2009 she suggested to the Mexican men\u2019s national team that it train there ahead of a match in San Diego. Team representatives toured the secluded, secure campus, felt the soft ocean breeze, rubbed their fingers across the pristine grass and nodded.<\/p>\n
Word spread from there, and over the past decade, dozens of teams have graced the Ballfield for Kids.<\/p>\n
The U.S. men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams have trained there. So have Chile and Costa Rica, along with Mexico\u2019s Club America and Spain\u2019s Real Betis. So have a half-dozen Major League Soccer teams ahead of games against San Diego FC. Germany\u2019s Borussia Dortmund held its preseason camp there in 2023.<\/p>\n
Fiji\u2019s national rugby team has been there.<\/p>\n
The NFL\u2019s Tennessee Titans have, too.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also under consideration as a training base for the 2028 Olympics, with Snapdragon Stadium hosting 11 soccer matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came here for my interview in 2022,\u201d said Adam Benmoise, SDJA\u2019s director of auxiliary programs, \u201cthey showed me the field for the first time, and I was like, \u2018This is incredible. This is a world-class field.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just built properly. They didn\u2019t cut corners. They put the right base underneath. They put the right grass on top. And we\u2019ve maintained it really, really well to a professional standard. The teams choose us for several reasons. The quality of the pitch is No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n